The Trust Game
by maxandfang4ever
Summary: From that day on, I vowed to myself that I would never cry again. I vowed to myself that I wouldn't get hurt. I vowed that I wouldn't trust him the same way again. I just couldn't. I vowed I would be strong and tough. Stronger than before. Not unbreakable, but just better. I was still determined not to break those vows. It'd been 3 years since I'd cried.
1. The Vow

"What do you want?" I asked scowling as a certain lean, dark-haired figure leaned against the locker next to mine.

"I just want to say hi Maxie," he replied chuckling. I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore him as I shoved my books into my backpack. I just wanted to go home. It'd been a long enough day as it was. I didn't need Fang ruining anything else.

"Shut up. You should know better than anyone not to call me Maxie," I responded my voice like ice.

"Just let me talk to you Max," he answered the sarcastic tone from his voice was almost gone, but I knew it could come back in a heartbeat.

"Well too bad. You should've thought of that when you told me we weren't friends anymore," I answered coldly brushing past him. He turned to follow me out, but then stopped. Smart move Fang.

_Flashback_

_Fang and I laughed as we raced towards the park, our bare feet striking the ground._

"_I'm gonna beat you!" I called shifting into an all-out sprint. I wasn't going to let Fang win again. He always won. I kept running, but to my surprise Fang hadn't started sprinting like me. We always tried to one up each other, and be better than each other in everything. It was our thing. _

"_Yeah, I guess so Max," he responded slowing down even more. I wasn't sure what to do since this was so unlike Fang. I slowed down and came to a stop, turning around to talk to Fang. _

"_You mean you're actually gonna let a girl beat you? It won't be the first time," I smirked to myself remembering how excited I'd been when I actually won a race against Fang. _

"_Yeah. Whatever," he asked. His voice was different. He wasn't as carefree. He was changing. _

"_Whatever it is Fang, just tell me okay?" I asked starting to get frustrated. He was never like this. What was his deal?_

"_Look. We can't really be friends anymore Max. I'm sorry." He looked at the ground, not wanting to look me in the eye. _

_I stared at him in shock. "So you're too good for me now?" _

"_It's just that I'm changing, you're changing and we're just different. I'm starting to be popular. None of my friends like you Max, and you kind of bring me down. Look I'm sorry okay," he explained. As if that would count as an explanation._

_My heart started pounding really fast, and I was afraid I'd cry._ "_Well I don't want to be someone's friend if I'm not up to their standards anyway," I replied trying to sound tough. I sounded a lot stronger than I felt. Fang. He'd been my best friend since we'd met in preschool. How could he change so much?_

_He opened his mouth to say something, but I turned away stormy faced and took off sprinting. Tears streamed down my face as I took off for my house. That stupid jerk. I hated him now. _

_At least Fang hadn't seen me cry. If he'd seen me cry, he'd know how much he hurt me. He couldn't know he'd hurt me. I couldn't remember the last time I'd cried, except for that one day when I was 9. But I don't think about that day. _

That was 3 years ago. I was 11 and it was the day before seventh grade started. From that day on, I'd been different. I'd been stronger. I thought I was pretty strong then, but I was clearly mistaken. He hurt me so easily, but now he couldn't hurt me.

From that day on, I vowed to myself that I would never cry again. I vowed to myself that I wouldn't get hurt. I vowed that I wouldn't trust him the same way again. I just couldn't. I vowed I would be strong and tough. Stronger than before. Not unbreakable, but just better. I was still determined not to break those vows. It'd been 3 years since I'd cried.


	2. Surprise

"What the hell Fang? Can't you just leave me alone?" It'd been a week since Fang had stopped by locker after school, and he'd been trying to talk to me every day since.

"Geez Max, cool it a little," he responded as he backed up from my locker a few steps.

"No." I responded simply and he rolled his eyes. "Can't you just tell me what you want?"

"Maybe," he answered mischievously. To go along with telling me we couldn't be friends anymore, he turned into the schools biggest player. He had girls at his feet right and left, just begging to go out with him. It was disgusting. And Fang loved every minute of it. He flirted constantly, and he was so full of himself, and had the biggest ego ever.

"You're flirting tricks aren't gonna work with me. You can't just win me over like every other girl in this school," I said looking him in the eyes. Unfortunately for me, his eyes were still gorgeous. They always had been. The swirling pool of dark brown and black was easy to lose yourself in, especially when you noticed the little gold flecks that swirled around too.

"Fangles!" Lissa, his girlfriend , skipped over and gave him a huge, gross looking hug. I don't really understand how they even got together, since Lissa is pretty unattractive. Fang, as much as I hate to say it, is really pretty hot. "Why are you talking to _her?" _She asked, giving me a look down and I just rolled my eyes not caring what she thought.

"He's trying to flirt with me like every other girl in this school. But luckily for you, I'm not going to fall for his tricks even if everyone else does. I'm the exception," I stalked off and I noticed Fang didn't follow me, nor had he ever finished explaining what he wanted to talk to me about.

I walked straight to Nudge's locker, and she was waiting for me so she could come over to my house.

"What's up girl?" she asked noticing my pissed off expression.

"Fang is what's up," I said glaring at nothing in particular.

"Come on Max. Don't let him get to you. You're so much better than him," she tried with a hopeful smile.

"Thanks Nudge, but he still manages to get to me. I don't really care that much about him anymore, but he just keeps talking to me now and it brings to many painful memories back." We had already started walking home, and I shifted my backpack which hung over my shoulder.

"Honestly Max. You're gorgeous, and any guy would be lucky to have you. Don't let some stupid jerk get in your way of being happy. At least you're a good person." I was lucky she was so supportive and sweet. I never talked about Fang, but he kept talking to me and it just made memories flood through me. I couldn't even tell what emotions it was causing. It wasn't really sadness, but I don't think it was anger either. I just didn't know what to do about him. I promised myself that I wouldn't let the same thing happen again.

We had made it to my house, and we were drinking hot chocolate at my kitchen counter when the doorbell rang. Nobody else was home so I went to go answer it. I set my drink down, as Nudge and I got up to see who it was.

Guess who was on my doorstep? Just guess? Come on, I dare you.

Fang.

When we were younger it was the best thing ever that Fang lived across the street and two houses down from me. Now, it just made everything worse.

I opened the door, "What?" I asked in a not exactly pleasant voice.

"I need to talk to you. I told you earlier, but then you left," he answered, his hands in his pockets but he looked right at me.

"Yeah I remember. I also remember you letting Lissa insult me, and then walking the opposite way as me. Obviously if it were so important, you would have found a way to tell me," I replied glaring.

"That's why I'm here."

"Fine. Humor me. What is so important that you absolutely need to tell me?" I asked eyes wide. Nudge stood there with her hand on her hip, ready to support me. She actually had by back, unlike the jerkface who stood on my front porch.

"It's gonna take longer than this to explain," he said and I just sighed in exasperation.

"Well you can't come in, so why don't you just try to summarize your thoughts so then you can leave?" I asked. Yeah I was being rude, but I wasn't the one who crushed my best friend's heart in the first place.

"I broke up with Lissa. And I'm sorry for everything Max."


	3. Change?

Well I was definitely not expecting that one. I didn't know what to do. I trusted him once, but that had just ended up in me getting hurt. How was I to know it wouldn't happen again?

"Convince me," I replied simply. I promised myself I wasn't going to get hurt again. Not by him. Not the same way.

"Give me time to explain," he pleaded. He seemed more sincere, the sarcastic, flirty tone was gone. He sounded like the old Fang. I missed that Fang. Too bad he wasn't the person standing across from me right now. That Fang was long gone.

"Give me one reason why I should," I countered. Nudge was silently in shock, standing behind me. I was still pretty surprised though. I mean I hated Fang and why would he want to talk to me now?

"Because I've been trying but you just keep blowing me off," he answered back right away. This reminded me of all the times when we used to argue about all the stupidest things. We were both incredibly stubborn, and we still are. We both always have to be right. It's hard to be so close to someone whose so similar to you.

"Blowing you off? I walked away today because your girlfriend was being a bitch. You've got legs. You're capable of following me. Or is that too much to ask of the famous Fang Walker?" I replied snidely.

"Ex-girlfriend. But you'd pretty much left, and I wasn't just gonna follow you all the way home."

"You would've if you really wanted to talk to me. That would show dedication and that you actually cared. But whatever, I still don't believe you," I responded. Something flashed in his eyes, and I couldn't tell if it was hurt or anger or just memories of our childhood.

"I'm telling you I need to explain," he said again.

"Okay whatever. Fine. But it better be good," I finally gave in. If I got hurt again because of this, I don't know what I'd do. Move to China or something.

"Good. I'd told you I'd win you over Max," he smirked still looking at me.

"You haven't won anything. When do you want to explain all this, because I'm clearly busy now," I gestured to Nudge who was still standing quietly behind me.

"I can tell. And tomorrow, I'll pick you up. It's a date," he winked at me, and then turned and headed off for his house.

"Are you really gonna go through with this Max? I just don't want you to get hurt again," Nudge asked with her big brown eyes wide.

I nodded, "Yeah. I need to hear what he's going to say. I won't get hurt again. If I don't trust him, I can't get hurt."

She shrugged, "That makes sense. But come on, I don't want him to ruin our night, let's do something fun."

I smiled at her sympathy and her ability to cheer me up. "Let's make sundaes!"

We grabbed 2 tubs of different flavored ice cream, a tub of sprinkles, a can of whipped cream, and chocolate and caramel sauce to be heated up.

This happened to bring back even more memories though.

_Flashback_

"_Let's do something fun today Fang!" I called as we came running upstairs from his basement where we'd been watching Elf. It was Christmas in a week, and we were both so excited. _

"_Let's make pasta sundaes!" he exclaimed suddenly excited. _

_My eyes lit up, "Yeah!" We used the leftover pasta from lunch we'd eaten earlier and then grabbed all the sweets we could find out of his pantry and fridge. We piled mounds of sugary foods on top of our mountains of pasta that wasn't even warm still._

"_On 3!" I called, "1-2-3!" We both took a huge bite and then looked at each other making faces. Not too bad, but neither Fang nor I were picky eaters at all. We liked our sugar. What 8-year old doesn't?_

I tried to shut out the memories, but talking to him made that harder and harder to do. But I forced myself to ignore it, and concentrate on having fun with Nudge. The more I thought about it, the more I decided I didn't even care. And that made it easier to forget and not get hurt over. Perfect.

A few hours later, after a movie, a ton of junk food and some intense gaming, Nudge left. I was really nervous about this stupid "date" I'd agreed to. I don't know why I was nervous though, I mean I didn't like him and I didn't care. All this would do is probably clear some things up between us.

Unless he used me to show everyone how he'd managed to make another girl fall for him. I refused to fall for him. But I was pretty sure I couldn't after what he'd done to me anyway. I wasn't too worried.

I woke up that morning still having a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach which I ended up just ignoring. I threw on a pair of dark skinny jeans and a flowy teal shirt along with a necklace and my Sperry's. I ran a brush through my knotted hair, wincing as it made its way through the massive tangles. I added some mascara, a tiny bit of cover up that I probably didn't even need, and sprayed a perfume and was ready to go.

My mom was at work and I told her yesterday that I was going out to talk to Fang and she said that was a good idea.

An hour later, the doorbell rang and I grabbed my wallet and met Fang at the door.

"Hi," I muttered quietly, closing the door behind me as I followed him to the car. He had a friend Ryan who was old enough to drive, and was apparently chauffeuring us around.

He dropped us off at the Original Pancake House, which had been my favorite place to get breakfast since I'd been a little kid. Fang and I used to come here all the time as kids.

"I'll buy you some chocolate chip pancakes Max," he said and I smiled looking at the ground. He still knew me so well.

"Sure. Thanks," I replied quietly. I'd decided to at least let the kid talk.

We sat down in a booth, and he stared talking.

"I'm really sorry. For everything I did before. Can we at least be friends?" I realized something else. Aside from yesterday, not once since we'd been best friends had he said sorry to me. He was finally apologizing. Maybe he was changing.


	4. The Perfect Place

"I don't know Fang," I replied honestly. Yeah, I wanted to be friends but I also didn't want to get hurt.

"Please. Max, I didn't realize it…I miss you," he explained. Well tried to explain but that wasn't a very good explanation by me.

"And I'm supposed to believe that now?" I replied.

"Yes," he told me.

"I forgive you for that." I did forgive him, he did apologize. But just because I'd forgiven him, doesn't mean I would fall for his stupid game. "But you should know me better than that Fang. Yeah I'm forgiving you, but I'm not gonna forget what you did."

"Fine. But let me just convince you," he answered. But I noticed that he didn't exactly look grateful or ashamed of what he did. Not very convincing if you ask me.

"Try me." I thought he was just gonna open his mouth and say his stupid little quote that he was basically famous for, 'I'm not a player, I'm the game.' It was stupid and shallow and I just ignored it whenever I heard groups of girls whispering to each other.

But he took me totally by surprise and leaned over the table and he freaking kissed me. He caught me totally off guard, and I pulled back as soon as I realized what was happening. Not to mention he was a really good kisser, but I didn't care. I couldn't fall for him. At least not yet.

"Convinced?" he asked with a smirk, probably figuring that I had instantly fallen head over heels for him just because he'd kissed me.

"No. I told you I was the exception. That stuff's not gonna work on me Fang," I responded to his smug little smirk. Had he not just witnessed me pulling away from him kissing me?

"Fine." We had finished eating and we got up. "Follow me."

"Okay. This better be good though. If this is trick or something I'm going to kick your ass all the way into next week." I muttered under my breath. He smirked at me, and I had to admit I could see how he got tons of girls just by his stunning good looks.

"Calm down Maxie, it'll be fun," he went back to using his stupid little sarcastic tone that matched his stupid little ego.

"If you ever want to talk to me again, never call me Maxie again. It's Max. Not that difficult. It's 3 letters, I'm pretty sure your capable of saying it," I scowled at how pleased he looked. Jerk.

"Yes Max," he gave me a fake salute and snickered.

"You're really not very good at making me like you," I responded.

Something flashed in his eyes, and I think it was hurt. It was gone so fast I wasn't even sure I'd saw it, but I knew I had seen it.

"I'm better at it then you think. Just wait." He turned and kept walking; leading me somewhere that was hopefully not a trick. I got rid of my doubts and just followed him to see what this whole deal was about.

We had made our way down a path that was surrounded by trees and a beautiful nature and scenery. I was totally enhanced by the beauty of the path, and I hadn't noticed as Fang must've slowed down and started walking behind me. Before I knew it, he had placed his hands over my eyes and everything went dark.

I instinctively lashed out, but Fang grabbed my arm just as I was out to swing it around into his nose. "Calm down. It's a surprise so you can't look til I say," he explained and I instantly calmed down a little.

"You know I hate not being in control, so this better be worth it." I hated not being able to see where I was going and having someone else in full control of me.

After a few more minutes of walking down the path, Fang removed his hands and my eyes popped out at what I saw.

"Oh my gosh Fang, it's beautiful." My voice was hushed as I was still mesmerized.

"I know. It's our place Max. No one else knows it's here. It's hidden and off the path," he explained. I seriously couldn't believe it. It was the place we dreamed about as kids. How had he remembered?

_Flashback_

"_We need a place, Max. A place where no one else knows about that only we can go to," Fang told me one day as we were sitting high up in a tree in his backyard. _

_I nodded, "And we're the only ones who know about it. It's gonna be a secret."_

"_Yeah," he enthused quietly. "It'll be in the woods, surrounded by trees and hidden from other people."_

"_Somewhere beautiful," I added. "And there can be a waterfall that leads into a sparkling turquoise lake that we can swim in. And rocks to jump off of into the water."_

"_it's perfect." Fang said quietly off in his own little world. "And there will be deer and pretty trees that we can climb all the way up and pretend that we can fly."_

_I nodded, our dream had always been to fly. This was probably as close as we would get. "But where can we find a place like that?" _

"_I'll find it for you Max. I promise I will. No matter how long it takes." He looked me straight in the eyes as he said that and I knew he would. _

"It's exactly how we said it would be," I murmured still in awe of the clear blue pond that was deep enough to swim in, with the fast rush of the waterfall leading into it. "How did you find this?"

He shrugged his shoulders; all traces of the old Fang were gone at this particular moment. "I did some research."

"Wow. Fang, this is amazing," I whispered, coming over to him.

"I told you I'd find it for you Max. I promised," he answered me softly. "Do you believe me now?"


	5. You Pass

Somehow, he had gotten me to trust him again. Now that was impressive. It had all happened pretty fast once he'd asked me if I believed him.

"As surprised as I am to say this, I actually do believe you." I couldn't believe he really had convinced me. He'd broken through the new Max. All the things I did to make myself stronger, he'd taken down my walls and gotten me to trust him again. This better not be a mistake.

"Thank you." He looked me in the eyes, those same eyes I remembered. The gold specks shone bright under the sunlight. And that's when he leaned and kissed me sweetly. And much to your surprise and mine, I actually kissed him back. His soft lips tenderly met mine, and I even closed my eyes trying to enjoy it.

He pulled back and I found myself to be smiling. "You're cuter when you're not scowling Max," he added with his signature lopsided grin. I miss his old smile. Now he doesn't smile, like really genuinely smile, very often. He's replaced it with a lopsided half smirk, half smile. He developed that along with his little saying.

That just caused me to scowl, but then I ended up smiling anyway. "I'm sure you tell everyone their cute."

He just winked. "But no one's as pretty as you," he began and I kind of just rolled my eyes. Yeah right. "And that's why I want you to be my girlfriend."

What? I thought he just wanted to be friends! Well until he kissed me at least. He seems really different though, and I do like him. I couldn't just deny my feelings. I know I promised myself I wouldn't get hurt anymore, but he wouldn't hurt me again? Right?

"You won't hurt me again, right Fang?" I asked, my voice asking the stupid, childish question that was still on my mind.

He nodded, his eyes wide and sincere. "I really am sorry, for everything that happened between us."

I just nodded. "I know. I said I forgave you."

"I remember. Thank you for that." I just looked at him.

"It's over, it happened. But just remember, like I said before. I never ever forget."

"I'll make it up to you Max, I really will," he looked so sincere, and I decided to believe him. I wanted to trust him. He really had changed.

We started walking, back towards our houses. "Max, there's something else I need to tell you."

"What's up?" I asked, and I noticed he had slipped his hand through mine. So now I was officially holding hands with the famous player, Fang Walker.

"It's my mom," he started, and my heart almost stopped in my chest. Fang's mom was like a second mom to me still, despite everything that had happened. When we were little, I spent more time at his house than at mine, and his mom was like an aunt to me. I even used to call her "Aunt Walker". "But you can't tell anyone Max, please. Just trust me on this. Not your mom, not Nudge, not anyone. Promise?"

"I promise," I answered immediately.

"Okay, it's just she has cancer. It's a really rare type though, and they don't know if they can cure it because they haven't seen anything like it before. We don't know what we're going to do. But you can't tell anyone okay Max? You promised. Please," he was almost begging me not to tell anyone. That seemed low, kind of strange even for Fang. I promised though, and I always keep my word. I've never broken a promise in my life. There may be a lot of things wrong with me, I know I have a lot of flaws, but the one thing I am proud of is not lying and always keeping my promises.

"I know. I won't say anything."

He looked relieved as I told him I wouldn't do anything. That was pretty weird, or maybe it wasn't. I was just paranoid. I was just overreacting again, right?

"Thanks," he muttered. He walked me home, and then gave me a hug before walking towards his house. He had small little smirk on his face as he read something on his phone but I guess I just ignored it. Now, thinking back, that was stupid. That should've been a clue.

After 2 days of officially being the girlfriend to Fang, might I add getting glares and stares from girls and guys at school, things started to get weird. He still talked to Lissa and his other popular friends, but he spent more time with me. But that still should've been a clue. Too bad I didn't realize that either. I mean I guess life was just the same as it had been but I felt different with Fang around. It felt more relaxed being with him still, but there was still something bothering me. The only problem was I couldn't figure out what it was.

So, I decided to test Fang. See how trustworthy he actually was. I still couldn't bring myself to fully trust him, there was something about him. I mean he was so different from when we were little, but he was also so familiar.

I called Nudge after school on Friday because Fang and I didn't have plans to do anything, but I wanted to see what Fang really was.

"Hey girl? How's Fang?" Nudge asked smiling through the phone.

"Yo. I think he's good, but I also think something's up. I still can't bring myself to trust him completely again. So, I want to test him. With Lissa," I explained pressing the phone against my ear.

"Oooh, that's scandalous Max! I like it! Let's set something up tonight where he can 'accidently' run into Lissa somewhere, and then see how he responds. But you can't be there, otherwise he'll obviously act normal to not turn any warning signs on. Deal?"

"Sure. So you wanna go? You up for a movie with Fang, Iggy and Lissa? To see how it goes, and then tell me everything that happens," I responded, getting sort of excited. And nervous. I wanted to trust Fang because I still missed him and spending time with him, no matter how much he'd changed. But I still had to keep my promises. I refused to get hurt again.

"Yes! I'll text them all. I think Fang and Iggy were doing something tonight." Nudge quickly hung up and texted the two guys and Lissa (I refuse to recognize her as a girl) to see if they could go tonight. I was friends with Iggy, and he was pretty cool. And I pretty much hated Lissa, for other reasons than just being Fang's girlfriend, well ex, but I don't wanna talk about that now. And then there was Fang. No comment.

"It's perfect!" Nudge's excited voice rang through the phone after not even 5 minutes from hanging up before. "Fang knows Iggy's coming but Iggy knows they're both coming. And Lissa knows Fang's coming so she's all excited to win him back. But Fang doesn't know Lissa's coming so we'll see what he does when she's there and you're not!" She sounded so proud of herself and I couldn't help grinning. She was adorable. Not in a weird, creepy way but at how excited she got all the time. It just made me laugh, and I'm not exactly a happy, friendly person.

I decided to take a nap while she went to the movies with them. I figured if I stayed awake, I'd just think about all the things that would probably go wrong. So I just went to sleep.

It was around 3 or so hours later when my phone rang, and I picked it up to hear what had happened. I figured it couldn't have gone too bad since she'd stayed for the whole movie. But I also knew she happened to like Iggy, except he had a girlfriend.

"So, how'd it go?" I asked, not sure if I ever wanted to hear the answer.

"Well, we got there and Lissa was like all over Fang and he was kinda being the same like flirty and being the same old player at the beginning. But then we all went to sit down in the theatre and he made an effort to sit between Iggy and me, so he didn't have to sit next to Lissa! Max! That's such an improvement! I mean like any other time he would've gone to the trouble to sit right next to each other! I think he's actually getting better! And he kinda just watched the movie and talked to Iggy but didn't really talk to Lissa! That's like super good!" Nudge, the ultimate chatter-box kept rambling on about the movie but I ended up just tuning her out.

I ended up finally smiling to myself realizing that I could probably trust Fang now. I mean we'd tested him and he'd passed right? Not necessarily a A, but I'd say like a B-. That's pretty good, especially for Fang. So I decided to trust him. I guess he really had changed.


	6. Infinity Signs

**So I kinda forgot to do this at the beginning, but I don't own Maximum Ride or any of the characters. They all belong to James Patterson. Well hope you guys like the story and don't hate me too much for making Fang kind of a jerk! Please review so I know how to make it more interesting! Let me know if there's anything you want me to add! **

It'd been roughly a week and a half since Fang had passed his little test, and became worthy of my trust. I had just gotten home from school, and my mom had a plate of chocolate chip cookies on sitting on the table. Heck yes! Now for those of you who don't know, chocolate chip cookies are possibly the greatest most delicious food on this planet. The only thing better than eating chocolate chip cookies was watching them bake, and smelling them as they browned. That my friends, is what life is all about.

"Here Max, this is for you," my mom told me as she handed me a letter with my name written on it in black ink.

"Who's it from?" I asked as I inspected it. There was no return address, and the envelope was totally sealed with no clues as to where it was from. What the heck? I threw it on the pile of homework I was bringing upstairs and decided I wanted to open it alone.

"I don't know sweetie. Maybe you have a secret admirer," she added with a grin. I rolled my eyes and my mom just laughed.

I went upstairs and sat down at my desk with a sigh. What now? Things had finally been starting to turn around, but no. Of course something weird had to mess everything up. Because this is my life were talking about.

**Be careful who trust. **

That's all the notes said. An infinity sign was next to the message, almost as like a signature from whoever the heck this was from. Why was everything so complicated? Couldn't someone just be straightforward with me for once? My life is just a freaking mystery.

After a few minutes of pondering who it could be, I called Nudge. I explained the random note and what it said and described how the envelope had absolutely no way to be identifiable. She sounded confused, and there was a little excitement in her voice as she decided that we would figure out who it was, even if it killed us. Well not really, but you catch my drift.

At school the next day, everything seemed normal and Fang seemed pretty much the same. Even though I didn't know who the note was from, I didn't know if it was aimed at Fang or what. I didn't really act any differently towards him on the outside, but I tried to take note of anything he was doing that would tip me off that something was up. But I didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary. I still got the glares from girls in the hallways as Fang and I held hands, and lots of guys gaped at the two of us when we sat together at lunch. But thankfully, that was happening a lot less often now than when we'd first started going out.

"See you later Max," Fang said as he kissed my forehead after walking me to my last period class. We walked home from school together sometimes, but he had soccer practice after school a lot. I still couldn't grasp the fact that he was actually my boyfriend, and I didn't know why.

As I got home from school that day, I found another envelope addressed to me lying on the front porch. It was in the exact same envelope which held no clue to me as to who this secret person was. Today was Thursday so my mom was working late, and I grabbed the note and hurried up to my room.

**Pay attention to the people around you. **

Helpful. All I want is an answer. Why is it that so hard? I decided to ignore it for the time being and get my homework done. As much as I disliked homework, I made sure it was always done because I was planning on going to college. A good one. An Ivy League in particular.

Once I had finished my homework, I pulled the two identical letters back out and placed them side by side on my desk. The infinity sign was in the exact same spot in both letters, and they were written in the same handwriting, both in black ink. I wanted to piece together as much as I could, but nothing was coming to mind. My first thought was Fang, but he'd been acting so normal. But not too normal; nothing that would make me suspicious. That was the most confusing part.

Another day of school had gone by and nothing was different. I was half expecting another envelope, and I wasn't disappointed. The exact same envelope with my name on it was sitting on the floor outside my door along with a laundry basket my mom must have put there for me.

As I ripped open the envelope, I pulled out another quote in the same black font, and ink.

**A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth even has time to get its pants on.**

What the heck was that supposed to mean? That I hear more lies than truths? How was I supposed to figure this out when I didn't even know who it was aimed at, or who it was from? I sat down on my bead with a sigh. I leaned back, and just closed my eyes trying to think everything through. This was so unbelievably frustrating. You don't even understand. I called Nudge again, telling her about both of the notes I'd gotten in the past two days. She sounded pretty interested and wanted to know absolutely everything I could tell her.

I rolled my eyes, "Of course I don't know who it is Nudge! That's why I'm calling you."

"Oh yeah! Maybe it's some guy's way of telling you that he likes you and that you should dump Fang and go after him instead!" Nudge enthused, resuming her endless talk about boys and dating. Surprisingly, we were really different from each other, but were still really close friends. Normally I feel like people who have a lot in common become friends, but we pretty much screwed that statement over.

"Right Nudge, I'm _sure_ that's what it is," I muttered. I heard her groan.

"Max! You've gotta see yourself differently! You're like drop dead gorgeous and probably all of the guys want you! You're like the Fang of the girls, except that you're actually sweet, funny, not a douche and a great person. So I guess you're not really, but you kinda are at the same time! Gosh Max, I wish I was as pretty as you! Then maybe Iggy would like me," Nudge replied sweetly over the phone. She was honestly such a sweetheart, and I don't think she had it in her to be mean to someone without a huge reason.

"Well thanks, but you shouldn't be talking. You're like model pretty and Iggy's just blind. He doesn't know what he's missing out on. I'm sure you can find someone better than him anyway," I responded somewhat absentmindedly as our conversation went from intense notes to boys and dating. Not exactly my forte. I stayed on the phone with Nudge, continuing to talk about boys and all that jazz that comes with being a girl. Oh boy was I having fun. Catch my sarcasm?

A few hours later, I heard a knock on my door and another one of the envelopes was sitting on my doorstep. I stepped out to grab the notecard, and I opened it.

**Everything is a bet.**

What is everything? Just as I was about to turn back around to head inside, I noticed a shadow standing in the grass in front of my house. What the hell was happening? I tucked the note inside the pocket of my sweatshirt and walked out to see who it was.

As I opened my mouth to ask who it was, the person stepped towards me and I could identify them under the light.

"Max?" the voice called and it was vaguely recognizable.

"That's me," I replied, not exactly sounding welcoming.

"It's me," the voice, who was clearly a guy, called up. "Dylan. Fang's older brother. You remember me right?"

"Of course I do," I replied quickly coming down the steps and giving him a hug. He hugged me back, his toned arms around my back. "How could I forget my best friend's, well sort of, brother?"

"I figured as much," he replied with a grin. Aside from his naturally stunning looks, he and Fang looked nothing alike. Dylan was a junior, so he was 2 years older than us, but he used to play with Fang and I, back in the day. He had sandy hair that swooped over his sea-green eyes. His tan face broke into a perfect smile, displaying a nice set of pearly, white teeth. The whole Walker family was just attractive in general. I hadn't seen Dylan in forever, not since Fang and I hadn't been friends. Even though we were back together, and dating now, I still hadn't seen or talked to Dylan much.

"It's great to see you." I grinned actually happy to see him. "But what exactly are you doing here? What's going on?"

His smile faded. My first thought was that something had happened to his mom, the cancer Fang had described before hadn't been brought back up, but anything could've happened. I still hadn't told anyone else because I promised Fang. And like I said, I always keep my promises.

"We need to talk," he replied, his face urgent. I nodded as he continued. "I'm the one who wrote the notes. The envelopes with the words inside, it was all me."


	7. Losing

"Why? I don't understand. I haven't even seen you in years, ever since…" I trailed off not wanting to specifically talk about it.

"I'm sorry Max. For everything Fang did to you. I really don't think he ever realized how much he hurt you. I need to tell you something," he began. I was starting to have a bad feeling about the way this was headed. Dylan was normally a really straightforward guy, and especially for him to have to add the 'I'm so sorry' in there meant it was pretty bad probably.

"You don't have to do this, not with me. You can just tell me," I advised him and he let out a breath.

"This isn't something I want to say, Max. You've always been like a sister to me and I can't stand hurting you." He sighed before continuing. "I wrote those notes with the warnings on them. I sent them to you because I wanted you to notice before you got hurt, but I think I was too late."

"You're talking about Fang, aren't you?" I asked, my heart feeling like it was being crushed again. Why had I been so stupid? I knew I shouldn't have trusted him! I told myself I wouldn't because I still remembered exactly what it was like last time. I could never forget something like that.

Dylan nodded, and looked at the ground. "It makes me embarrassed to be associated with him. When people here my name, I'm sure they think of Fang. That's now how I want to be known." I nodded, kind of knowing how he felt. It was basically like being stereotyped, but by his own brother.

"So…you're saying that he never meant anything that he's said in the past few weeks?" I asked. I bit my lip. I was tough. I was strong. I went through everything last time so I would be able to stay strong if it happened again. I assumed it would, because that can be part of life. But I never would've guessed it'd be him. I should have though. I thought of a popular saying, 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.' It really was my fault wasn't it?

Dylan nodded sadly. "It was a bet. To make you fall for him after everything that happened before, and then to become your boyfriend. He was going to dump you sooner or later I guess. He had some guys and some obnoxious girl over and I could hear them talking about it. I didn't know how else to tell you Max. I really am sorry. I hate him for it."

I just scowled. I didn't know what I felt. I wasn't incredibly angry and I wasn't incredibly sad either. I should have expected this. Most girls are the ones who want to get revenge on their exes and do nasty things to them to make them pay. I wasn't that low. I wasn't going to hurt him just because he hurt me. That would make me absolutely no different from him, and what good is that to anyone?

"He's at home. He has friends over but I doubt you care. Do you want to go?" Dylan asked, looking up concerned as he watched me.

"Yeah. I don't want to be dumped in front of everyone, even if I do expect it."

"Come on, let's go." He put his arm around me in a sort of one-armed hug. There was nothing going on between me and Dylan. He was just like a brother, and his protective instincts were flaring up.

Dylan opened the front door quietly so it would at least surprise Fang and his little douche friends. Why had he ever agreed to do a bet that directly involved hurting me? As much as I had hated him, and do now too, I would never do something just to hurt him. I mean there was absolutely nothing that benefitted anyone from this stupid bet.

Well there ya have it kids, I officially hated Fang Walker.

I climbed the stairs leading to his bedroom without thinking twice. I knew this house so well, despite the fact that I hadn't been here for years. But it's hard to forget somewhere you spent almost every day for years on end.

"I still can't believe she fell for it in the first place! Let alone still be head over heels for you Fangles!" A familiar voice chirped from behind the door. It was a voice I despised and I just grimaced hearing it.

"I know. Pretty stupid huh? Or maybe I'm just amazing," an even more familiar voice replied, the sound of a cocky smile in his voice. That was enough.

"Yeah pretty freaking amazing." I had barged in on their little parade. "Well at least I'm not stupid enough to have a brother that actually cares." Dylan stepped out from behind the shadows backing me up.

"What the hell Dylan?" Fang asked angrily from his spot on his bed. His arrogance was gone and replaced with anger.

"No. What the hell is wrong with you Fang? Why would you ever do something like that. It's bad enough what you did before, and now to go and take it up like 10 notches?" Dylan replied, his normally soft turquoise eyes had turned angry. Angrier than I had ever seen.

"It was a bet, and I won," Fang said flashing a grin towards one of his douche friends, Frankie.

"There's absolutely no reason why anyone should do that to anyone. She'd finally started trusting you again. That was low Fang, even for you." Dylan ran a hand through his sandy hair, brushing it to the side.

"What I don't understand is why you did it? I would never hurt you Fang. As much as I hate you, I still don't want to hurt you like you did," I answered looking him dead in the eye. He couldn't hold my gaze, and turned to look at the floor.

"Well then you're just a freaking role model then aren't you?" Lissa responded glaring at me. She used a perfectly manicured hand to push a piece of flaming red hair behind her ear.

"No. But at least I've got the decency to stand up to you." I replied my eyes shooting daggers at anyone who was brave enough to meet my face.

"Too bad Fang had to get paid to go out with you," Lissa sneered.

"At least I don't need to wear makeup to cover up my ugly-ass face," I replied. That actually felt good.

Lissa just stuttered. Fang was the one that answered, "What do you even want Max?"

"To tell you that I'm not as stupid as you think and to tell you that all I want any more is to just be away from you," I replied pretty honestly. And when I say far away, I mean on another freaking planet. And that would still be too close.

Fang opened his mouth to say something else, but before I could I turned and stormed off.

"Max," Dylan called and I spun around. I wasn't crying, but my heart felt like it was shattering into a million little pieces. Again.

"I just need to go home. Thanks Dylan. I owe you one," I called back, and then took off sprinting towards my house. For the first time in over 3 years, real tears fell down my face. So much for my whole staying strong thing.

Thankfully my mom wasn't home yet and I ran up to my room, slamming the door just like when I was 9. I curled up on my bed as tears streamed down my face. I wasn't sure if I was madder at myself for trusting him or more mad at him for making me trust him. He went to so much trouble, and just for a stupid bet.

The tears ended, and the anger faded. The sadness too. I had to go to school on Monday, and I realized that I just wanted to be me. I didn't want to seem all depressed it would just boost Fang's ego and satisfy him and all his jerk friends. If I came to school all upset and torn apart after one breakup, that would make me seem so weak. I didn't want to appear as if I was another girl to fall victim to Fang's trap. Even though I did, but I still stood him up for it. And that stupid lie about his sick mom just made it all worse too. But I also knew that I wasn't going to act all incredibly tough and strong because that would be just obvious what I was doing. It would make it look like I was trying to make Fang feel bad. But, if I was just me, I could act as though he hadn't hurt me and fazed me as much as he thought he'd had. Almost make it look like I didn't care. Hopefully that wouldn't give him the sick satisfaction he wanted.

And now I was back to where I was before. Playing the stupid trust game. Too bad I'd lost again.


	8. Park City

**Okay, hey guys! Please don't hate me for what happened last chapter and I know you hate me for making Fang such a jerk! Just keep reading, I promise it gets better! **** Thanks for the reviews but keep reviewing! I always update so much faster when I have reviews to bounce ideas off of and they just motivate me! RnR! Also, check out my other Fanfiction, The Maximum Ride of Highschool! **

I went to school all next week acting like nothing was wrong, except whenever Lissa saw me in the hallway she would start laughing and pointing. Mature right? The only good thing, although I could really care less at this point, was that Fang and Lissa had really broken up.

"But Fangy!" Lissa protested from where I overheard them talking in one of the hallways. "Why would  
you break up with me?"

"Because I don't like you," Fang replied simply and then turned around and didn't look back. He seriously needed to work on his commitment issues.

"Fine! Well I-I-I hate you Fang! I hate you more than Max does!" She called back after him.

He ignored the first part but then he slowed down when she mentioned my name. "Yeah I bet you do. Did you even listen to her? She said she wouldn't hurt me…Like you could hurt me." Was he taking advantage of the fact that I wasn't going to hurt him? No, it almost sounded more like he was kind of embarrassed and grateful. But whatever, I sure as hell am not falling for that again.

But as I walked away, I couldn't help smirking. Fang was always expecting those responses from girls. But he was not expecting what I did at all, and it made me seem like an actual person. That I wasn't devastated that the so called "coolest" guy in our grade had just stood me up. Just like everyone else. So instead of trying to act something I wasn't, I decided to just be me. It was easiest and made me feel good. That I didn't have to fake myself.

Days went by, turning to weeks and before I knew it, it had been 2 months since my whole little ordeal with Fang. Dylan had texted me a few times, to apologize more and just check in with me on how I was doing. I didn't despise Fang anymore or any less than I had 2 months before. I mean sure, I was starting to get over but that didn't mean I wanted to be friends with him. That also didn't mean he wanted to be friends with me either.

"Max, your father and I have some important news for you," my mom announced at dinner that night. Oh joy. But I swear if she said she was freaking pregnant or something, as much as I love babies, I was going to move in with Nudge.

I merely looked up from the pasta i was eating. It was taking 100% of my concentration to twirl the fork in the pasta and get enough pasta to equal a bite onto my fork. Might I add, this was without the use of my fingers. I was being forced to use manners and eat properly because apparently I looked like a pig whenever I ate pasta in public.

"We're moving," my father joined in with a stupid smile on his face.

I choked on my freaking pasta. "What?" I managed to cough out.

"We're moving," said my mom, repeating exactly what my dad had just mentioned.

"No freaking duh," I muttered.

"Max," my dad warned raising an eveybrow, "Don't use that tone with your mother."

I rolled my eyes and thankfully he didn't see that. My mom just continued, "To Park City. It's only in Utah sweetie, don't worry. You can still come see your friends once in a while."

Since I actually had no real objection to moving, I just went with it. I knew I would miss Nudge, and Dylan and some of my other friends but I didn't really have any connection with this town. I mean we lived about 20 minutes west of Grand Junction, and there was nothing too exciting here. All that's left was bad memories from basically my whole life.

"We're driving right?" was my only question to the whole moving idea.

"Of course. It's only 4 and a half hours from here, and it's just too much hassle to schedule plane tickets and all of that," my father answered this time. Thank God. I absolutely abhorred airplanes. It wasn't the height factor so much as something that had happened in the past. But I'm not in the mood to talk about it, so maybe I'll tell you later. Maybe. "So Max, what do you think?"

"Sure, sounds great," I replied with a sense of fake enthusiasm but my parents didn't notice it. "When are we going?"

"Next Tuesday." Oh geez. That was soon. I mean yeah I was excited, but that still didn't give me enough time to pack and really say bye to everyone. "We've got moving men coming this weekend to get everything ready. I'm sorry this is so abrupt, it's just that I was offered the perfect opportunity for work. Normally I would've talked it through with you first, but your mother and I thought it would be a nice change. They have a phenomenal school that has one of the best writing programs out west." My dad was talking about the school as if he was the one going. I wish. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly good at making new friends. If I had to pick one word to describe myself it would most definitely not be friendly, nice or anything it that general category. Something maybe like stubborn, or difficult suited me better.

"You remember Ella right Max?" My mom asked as we were washing dishes and loading up the dishwasher later that night. I just nodded, grabbing a towel to dry of the plate I was holding. "Well she goes to the same school that you'll be attending. She's a freshman too, and her family will be there Tuesday and Wednesday to help us get settled and moved in."

"That's good," I muttered, my mind on other things. "I'm assuming you guys bought a house then too, right?"

My mom nodded, "It's really beautiful Max, I'm sure you'll love it." I nodded, then excused myself so I could start packing. Well that was just an excuse for calling Nudge.

"Hey Max!" her cheerful voice answered after the first ring.

"Yo Nudge, I got some not so good news," I replied, my voice not up to the happy tone hers was in.

"Aw, it's not about Fang anymore is it?" she asked, sounding worried.

"No, nothing like that. It's just that we're moving. My parents just told me, at dinner I mean," I tried explaining.

"Max!" she shrieked. "You can't move! Where the hell are you moving too?! You better come visit me!"

"Park City out in Utah. It's only a 5 hour drive so my parents said I could come visit sometimes. We're leaving on Tuesday," I answered my voice soft. She was the one thing about this place I'd really miss. She had some unspeakable ability to always, and I mean always, cheer me up and get me to laugh. She, unlike Fang, was a great best friend.

"What?! I'm coming over this weekend for like a triple mega sleepover then since I won't see you anymore after that! OMG! I'm gonna miss you so freaking much Max! You don't understand! Like what if I never see you again? No that's not gonna happen! You gotta promise me, okay? Promise?" her frantic voice spitting out a thousand words per minute.

I grinned, "Nudge calm down. I'm only moving. It's not like I'm dying or something. Relax. I promise I'll come visit you, and you can come spend summers out here with me. We can ride horses in the mountains or something. Wait, on second thought, no horses cause that kills your ass but you can still spend summers out here. Just chill."

"I know! But Max, come on! You're moving!" she practically shrieked through the phone.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry! I'll miss you a ton Nudge, I really will! To be honest I'm really not dreading moving except I know I will miss you so much!" I explained, my voice quieting as I got sad thinking about not seeing Nudge's bright brown eyes, always right above her huge smile.

"Okay. Aww Max. My parents are yelling at me to go clean the kitchen, but call me tomorrow! We are doing something for sure!" She replied and I heard her yell back down to them that she had more important things to be doing. I couldn't help but grin again. Only Nudge.

"Yeah, for sure. Bye." I put my phone down and went to my closet to start putting things in different boxes for me to pack. I started shoving different things into a bunch of different boxes, which I proceeded to put in front of the door as they filled up. Not until after I had put all the boxes in front of the door did I realize that I couldn't get out.

"Shit," I muttered gruffly to myself. I then moved all of the stupid boxes out of my way so I could make it downstairs.

XX

It was Monday after school, and I took a deep breath and walked to where I'd been dreading all day.

"Hey," I said quietly as I stopped at Fang's locker.

"Um hi," he replied awkwardly.

"Well I know things between us are screwed up, thanks to you, but I just had to tell you that you can be done worrying about it because I'm moving." Everyone, well my mom and Nudge, had both agreed I should tell Fang because it was just right.

"Oh, um okay. Well yeah. Where are you moving?" he asked as he grabbed his books from his locker.

"Park City. Well we're leaving tomorrow so I just had to at least tell you, not that you care, but whatever. Bye," I turned my back and walked away, glad I was done.

"Oh wow, yeah um well bye Max," he added awkwardly, not sure at all what to do.

XX

Tuesday morning at about 10ish, my parents and I hopped in the car and started the 5 hour drive to Utah, leaving Grand Junction and all the bad memories behind me. At least I hoped.


	9. Reliving the First Day

"Max!" Ella, my cousin who lived out in Park City, shrieked as our car pulled into the driveway of our new house. She raced off the front porch where she'd been waiting, her long brown waves trailing behind her. Unlike me, she was absolutely gorgeous. And even though I'm not one to notice being pretty, or unnecessary things like that, I was kind of jealous. Her tanned body was covered by a pair of skinny jeans that had rips in them, but she'd bought them ripped unlike me who caused most of jeans to rip by working too hard. She looked cute, but comfortable in her noodie (yes, hoodless hoodie! I love them!) that was grey with pink block letters spelling out Key West.

"Hey Ella," I replied with not quite as much enthusiasm as her, but that's just me.

"Oh my gosh! It's so great to see you! I'm so excited that you moved out here and we're gonna be going to school together! Everyone out here is super nice, and you'll fit in great! OMG Max, I can do your hair and all that for tomorrow since it's your first day!" As she rambled on, I couldn't help but realize how similar she was to Nudge. They would've gotten on great I'm sure.

"You really want to mess with my hair?" I joked, pointing up to the messy bun that my hair still hung in. She nodded eagerly. I guess she could for tomorrow at least. I mean I didn't want this to be a daily routine, but I didn't mind looking somewhat decent for my first day of school. I had to build up a whole new reputation here. "What the heck, why not?"

"Yay! You'll look amazing, I promise Max! Well not that you're not absolutely stunning now," she added with a grin. She was such a sweetheart too, just like Nudge.

"Right," I muttered under my breath. "Let's go check out the house." I turned my gaze up to the looming house above me, neatly settled on some rocks which actually was more stable than it sounded.

XX

"Max! Come on, you can't be late on your first day!" Ella called as I stared at my reflection in the mirror in my new bathroom. She had gotten me up at 6 (yes! 6 in the morning!) to get ready for school so she could do makeup, hair and a clothes selection. Let me just add that school didn't start until 7:50 and we were leaving at 7:20 with my dad dropping us off at school on his way to his new job.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I replied trying to decide whether I liked my current appearance. My naturally wavy hair was pin straight, thanks to 15 minutes of Ella holding her flat iron against my head. I refused to wear foundation despite Ella's pleas because it made me feel like I was covered in just like mud or something. But I'd given in to mascara, brown (not black) eyeliner, and a very neutral colored eye shadow. I was in a pair of dark skinny jeans with my Sperry's. Despite the cooler weather, I had on a teal shirt that relieved a tiny part of my stomach, no matter how many times I pulled it down. Thankfully it went lower in the back than it did it the front so I didn't have to worry about showing off my cute green underwear on the first day.

I'd grabbed a sweatshirt from my closet and headed downstairs. I grabbed an apple, biting into it. "When do I get my schedule?"

"I'm taking you to the office right when we get to the school and they'll have your schedule and a map and stuff." Ella shoved her math book into her silver sparkly backpack from Pink. I had no idea how she even fit all of her stuff into there, compared to my huge sports backpack that barely fit all of my books some days.

After we'd reached the office, I compared my schedule to Ella's. Thankfully we both had math first, so I wouldn't get lost on the way to my first classes. We had the same lunch and then Spanish later on in the day. "Ughh," she groaned. "You're in my Spanish class."

"Thanks, love you too," I joked rolling my eyes.

"No, it's not you," she replied shaking her head. "That just means you have the worst teacher EVER. I mean like everyone dreads going to her class every day. It makes you cry just thinking about it. I smirked, it couldn't possibly be as bad as my history class in Colorado. Just imagine having an ancient looking man who should definitely be on Biggest Loser teaching about when dinosaurs roamed. I swear he was telling us his life's story, which just happened to be everything since Ancient Greece. No, but really it was bad.

"Well thanks, that means a lot," I added with a laugh as we reached our first class. She explained that there were not assigned seats so we could sit wherever and she pulled a chair up to the table where she was sitting with a pretty blue eyed, and blonde haired girl.

As we sat down, I noticed lots of heads turn (especially guys) and I tried to ignore them. Ella nudged me and winked as she caught a ton of guys staring at me too. I was so sick of guys being like this everywhere. They just made me think of Fang, and that kind of just pissed me off.

"Hi, I'm Angel," the girl across from me explained introducing herself.

"Hey. Max," I replied turning towards the front as the teacher began speaking. She mentioned we had a new student, pointed to me and then made me stand up to be gaped at more. Honestly, there's nothing special about me. Quit staring.

Then class resumed, and we continued to explore he different levels of how boring geometry could be while using different shapes. The day went by pretty quickly with me getting introduced in almost all of my classes and then the usual boring school and learning crap. I'd sat with Angel, Ella at lunch, and some guy named Gazzy who was hilarious. He told us about how he and his friend Jeff managed to blow some experiment up in science so that the smoke-sensing sprinklers came on and their tests were cancelled. I grinned; it reminded me exactly of something Iggy would do. He and Gazzy both really enjoyed blowing stuff up, and they didn't really care how or when. They were geniuses when it came to science stuff like this, but total morons when it came to deciding to set off their magical explosives.

It was kinda weird, and cool that I'd met so many people who reminded me exactly of my friends back home. And of course, there were the players who reminded me exactly of Fang but I just tuned them out and ignored their stares.

XX

It had been around a month since I'd moved out to Park City, and I know this may surprise you, but I'd actually made some friends. Shocker right? Let's see, I was friends with Ella, Angel, Teagan, Gazzy, Grant and Tyler. They were mostly friends with Ella, and she'd introduced me and surprisingly we actually got along pretty well.

Not to mention, our new house was beautiful and I had a view from my room that overlooked the mountains. One of the best parts was that I could go skiing basically whenever I had time, and felt like it.

I sighed, and laid down on my bed, ignoring the large stack of books that kept reminding me that I had homework to do. I shrugged, and decided to just do it later and instead pulled out my laptop.

"Max!" Nudge's grinning, caramel colored face filled the screen as she answered right away.

"Hey Nudge," I replied, a grin lighting up my face as well.

"Tell me everything!" she exclaimed, and actually shut her mouth and listened as I explained everything about my friends and room and school and basically new life.

"I'm jealous! But I miss you so much!" she complained once I'd told her basically everything.

"I miss you too and make sure you tell Iggy I say hi and that I miss him too!" I told her. My parents had called me, so I had to go pretty soon. They probably just needed me to do dished or something like that. I sighed, "I've gotta go I think, my parents need me because I'm apparently the only person in this house capable of running the dishwasher."

She laughed, "Oh yeah. Have you, um, talked to Fang?" Her voice changed and her smile faded.

My brow furrowed, I didn't get it. "No, was I supposed to? I mean I told him I was leaving and everything…" my voice trailed off.

"Oh, well I don't know he just seems like all quiet and weird kinda. Like after you moved he got all sad and didn't have his regular ego and stupid sarcastic voice. I don't even think he's said his stupid little quote about the game or whatever either. I don't know he's just different I guess?" She sounded really confused.

"MAX!" my mom called sounding frustrated.

"WHAT?!" I yelled back equally frustrated.

"DON'T USE THAT TONE WITH ME YOUNG LADY," she answered from the kitchen. So it was okay for her to use a tone, but not me? I wasn't even using a tone! I rolled my eyes.

"I gotta go Nudge. Keep me posted on this Fang business. That's really unlike him though, and kinda really weird," replied not wanting to have to go deal with my mom now.

"I got you girl," she smiled big and her teeth shone before she waved bye and then hung up. I stormed down the stairs and was met with a glaring mother, hand on her hip waiting at the bottom of the stairs.


	10. Dances Are Not My Thing

After 2 months, I could officially call myself fitting in comfortably, which was actually kind of new. I mean if you hadn't noticed, Maximum Ride and friendly or sweet or nice or any words in those categories don't really go in the same sentence, and it's not exactly like I wanted them to either. But I was just proud of myself that I had found people I could call friends.

We, referring to my group of friends (aka Ella, Angel, Teagan, Gazzy, Tyler and Grant), were all sitting at our usual lunch table; but something seemed different. Ella kept giggling and nudging Angel, who also looked threatening mischievous. Teagan seemed to know what was so funny, but she was much better at pretending she didn't because she kept elbowing Ella, but managed to consistently keep a straight face. Gazzy was exchanged glances with Angel and Grant and Tyler seemed to be clueless. Like me. I'm always clueless. Has anyone else realized that?

"What?" I asked frustrated for the hundredth time, no exaggeration.

"Nothing," Ella replied a little, okay a lot, too innocently.

"I'm so not buying it," I muttered and the guys smirked understanding my cluelessness.

"It's just one guy Max, calm down!" Angel said, then immediately slapped her hands to her mouth not believing what she said.

"Way to ruin it," Ella muttered but grinned anyway to show she wasn't mad.

A guy? I inwardly groaned. Okay, this is not a lesbihonest situation for those of you Pitch Perfect fans out there. It's more of a I suck at dealing with guys because I screwed stuff up with Fang. But then I realized it might actually be a good chance to start over my dating problems, and maybe meet some sweet guy. Maybe, but this is my life were dealing with so that is highly unlikely.

"Oh, isn't that dance coming up?" Grant asked, returning from whatever world he was in as he'd been spacing out. Ella nodded excitedly.

I groaned, but out load this time. I absolutely hated, I repeat HATED, dances. Dances, besides airplanes, were my least favorite thing in pretty much the whole world. I hated them with a burning passion from my heart. Like I hate kinda a lot of things, I'll be honest, but this was by far the worst thing. Besides airplanes.

"Oh, you're going Max!" Ella and Angel exclaimed together. Teagan nodded enthusiastically, pushing a piece of her dark brown hair behind her ear. Her turquoise eyes sparkled as she grinned.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked still frustrated. As all three girls shook their heads 'no' I noticed the guys grin. I guess I was just a comedian. "What kind of dance is it?"

"A dance, dance Max! Like where a girl gets asked by a guy! You know, and then you like dance!" Teagan answered with her typical light hearteded laugh.

"Yeah come on Max. Get in the game," Gazzy added with a grin. He ran a hand through his spiked up hair and I couldn't help but grin. He looked so serious until he smiled.

"Sorry Gazzy, I'll work on that for you," I replied with a smirk. "So who are you three losers asking?" I looked at Grant, Gazzy and Tyler. They all looked at each other, and then blushed. "Oh, so you're going as like a guy threesome?" I wrinkled my nose at how not okay that was. "Please tell me that's not happening."

"Hell no," Grant replied right away and I smirked.

"Well? If you don't want me telling the school that Grant is asking Gazzy, tell me who you're asking!"

Tyler rolled his eyes, "I'm asking Olivia. Do you know her?" He didn't seem as nervous as the other two were, and I guessed that they were already pretty good friends. I nodded, she was in my English class and drop dead gorgeous. Her skin was perfect and she had big brown eyes that were light brown and shown in the light. Her hair was darker brown than mine, but a little lighter than Teagan and it was always perfect and she normally wore it in its natural beachy waves.

"OMZG!" Ella squealed, "You guys would be SO adorable! Like you're really tall and she's not and she's like stunning and I can totally see it!" Tyler grinned, and his eyes were a dark brown and his smile lit up his face.

"Um I'm planning on asking Autumn," Gazzy announced. Yeah I know it's kind of a weird name, but she's actually super sweet. Dang, she was stunning too and it was gonna make me feel bad when I was the ugliest girl there. Awkward.

"No way!" Angel exclaimed. "You guys would be like so perfect together! Come on, can't you guys see it? That would be so insanely adorable I can't even take it."

Gazzy grinned, looking quite pleased and a tad bit relieved. Like he was waiting for permission or something to ask her, which was actually kind of cute.

"Grant?" I asked, waiting for his answer. "Unless you're dateless now since you were planning on taking Gazzy. Although I'm not really sure who would be the male in that relationship…" I trailed off with my random thoughts.

Grant just rolled his eyes, but flashed a smile my direction. "I'm asking Casey," Grant announced. What the heck, why were they all like super pretty girls? Not fair. I mean not that I even cared about what they looked like, or what I looked like. Okay maybe I did, but not really.

I am such a girl.

A few days later, I was closing my locker after school when I slamming my locker shut on my way out of school when Ethan stopped me on my way out. "Hey Max."

"Hi Ethan, what's up?" I asked casually assuming he had a question about the Spanish homework. We sat next to each other in Spanish and shared answers since we got stuck with the awful teacher Ella had warned me about.

"I was just kinda wondering if you would wanna go to the dance with me?" he asked nervously.

I blushed not at all expecting that even though Angel had technically warned me. He'd totally caught me off guard but I couldn't just like not answer. Well, he was kinda cute and he was nice and smart and I knew him kinda well, considering at least.

"Um yeah, sure." I decided I would go with him since I was being forced to go. He had pretty blue eyes and light brown hair that sometimes flew in front of his face. He wasn't like super hot or anything, but he was pretty cute and nice enough.

"Awesome," he said with his cute little smile, and then gave me an awkward sort of hug.

"This is just like a one time thing though right? Sorry, I'm just not really looking for like a boyfriend right now…" I trailed off, but as nice as he was I didn't have time for an actual boyfriend right now.

He blushed nervously but nodded still smiling. "See ya later Max," as he ran off towards the loading busses.

XX

I'd told Ella and Angel and Teagan and Nudge of course, about my whole little meeting with Ethan. They were mortified that I didn't want to go out with him since according to them he was really hot and like super cool. I pretty much just ignored their complaints since I knew what I was doing and felt better not being his official girlfriend. The dance was in a few weeks and I still needed a dress, and I just groaned. I didn't sign up for this. My old school had lame-o dances and nobody went so I never had to worry about it. This sucked big time.

But the one thing that was bothering me was that as I was laying in bed that night, why couldn't I get a certain dark-haired someone off my mind? Someone I was pretty sure I hated, for quite good reasons too, had been coming to mind more and more often lately. It's not that I missed him it was just…I don't know. And also that comment that Nudge had made about he'd been acting differently ever since I'd left. It was so weird, because despite our differences we'd lived across the street from each other for 14 years. And now we weren't. And now I wasn't sure what I felt about Fang right now, especially that I had just gotten a date for a stupid dance.


	11. Puzzles

The dance was tonight, and even though I had a date and friends to go with, if you picked a word to describe how I felt about it, it would most definitely not be excited. Maybe loathing. Or dreading. Something in that nature, but you know me. That's just my pessimistic side talking.

I was sitting in a chair in Ella's bathroom surrounded by Angel, and Teagan who were helping me get ready. Olivia, Autumn and Casey, the guys dates, were coming soon and any male specimen was coming a while later. Because I mean guys take a whole 15 minutes to get ready, tops. Reason 512 why I wanted to be a guy. Believe me, it was a long list.

I tried my hardest, which took 100% of my concentration, to not move or flinch of make grossed out faces as Ella applied different types of makeup and hair products. I was letting her get me totally ready because I had zero, and I mean absolutely zero, talent in the department of anything girlish. Anything remotely girly, I was pretty much incapable of doing. Well that's what friends are for, right?

After a good hour or so, my face and hair were completely ready to go and I was ushered out of the bathroom to put my dress on and get my shoes so I'd be ready when the guys got here. Their dates had just gotten here when I'd slipped into my dress. I bet you wanna know what it looks like, but you can wait til the dance to find out. Sorry, sucks to suck.

Nudge, Teagan and Angel had finished getting ready and I had to admit they looked flawless. Their dates were coming along with Gazzy, Grant and Tyler in around 30 minutes. We'd take pictures and then head over to the dance.

I'm sure you're all dying to know what the girls looked like so I guess I'll tell you. Angel's hair was perfectly curled, courtesy to Ella, and then pinned over to the side, so it fell down over her right shoulder to about her chest. Her strapless dress was fitted, and its simple turquoise pattern fell down to about her knees. Her lips were shimmery, and her lashes were coated in mascara. A silvery sort of eye shadow was applied and it brought out the brilliant silver heels that matched her necklace and earrings.

Ella's hair was perfectly straight, shiny and smooth, thanks to Teagan who was a straightening pro. Her light brown eyes were lined with a little black eye liner as well as some mascara to make her eyes pop and they looked gorgeous. Her smile lit up her face as she emerged in her dark pink, also strapless dress. Hers was tighter than Angel's and fella bout part way down her thigh. She too had silver heels to bring out the few silver accents that were slightly hidden in the dress.

Teagan looked stunning with her hair done in absolute perfect waves and parted on one side. She had a gold headband in to keep the front pieces from falling into her face. Her skin was glowing and her blue eyes popped with the small amount of brown eyeliner and gold eye shadow. She had a little mascara on, although she didn't need much to bring out her naturally long, thick lashes. Her dress was strapless as well but it was a really pretty mix between a green and blue. Almost a sea-foam green, but a tad darker. She actually had gold heels since her dress had some embellishments that accented gold.

Okay, before we continue, I would just like to say you are all welcome because I spent my precious time describing hair, clothes and makeup. Which I can barely pronounce, let alone figure out what is what. By the time everyone was done getting ready, I felt way smarter in the girl department.

To summarize what the guy's dates were wearing, let's just say they all looked really pretty, had fancy hair and makeup, and were wearing relatively short and tight dresses. Nothing new. Moving on, we made our way downstairs and met our dates just as they were making their way up to the porch. Most of our parents were outside talking and pointing and doing embarrassing stuff that all parents do.

"Max, you look stunning," Ethan said as he approached me.

"Thanks," I said and, yes I Maximum Ride, looked towards the ground and turned pink blushing. "You look really nice too."

"Thanks," he replied and let's just say we made some small talk about who knows what and everything until it was time to go. After we'd all had snacks and drinks, we decided to head over to the school for the dance. Since my old school hadn't had a dance, this was my first one, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. But as we were making our way down the sidewalk into the school, Ethan grabbed my hand. And there we were holding hands, just like that.

We'd gotten to the dance and a good time so we weren't the awkward first people there, but we weren't showing up after most of the dance was over either. We made our way to the gym where the dance was being held, since it was the only room big enough to theoretically hold 3,000 people. But half the people were just in the cafeteria just down the hall getting drinks or just sitting and talking with their friends or dates.

But no, if we go all the way to the school for this stupid dance, we might as well dance. I mean I got a dress, shoes and was forced to undergo physical and emotional torture through the hair and makeup process, and I was not doing all that just to sit around.

Ethan and I made our way onto the dance floor along with hundreds of other sweaty other teenagers. Sounds really appealing doesn't it? I bet you all wish you were there. Cheesy balloons and streamers filled the ceiling and corners which were supposedly there for effect but I didn't really see it. The DJ started out with a bunch of faster songs to dance to, and of course he had to play Gangnam Style and the Harlem Shake. The Harlem Shake was honestly hilarious because all the guys got super into it. If I had a video camera, I would be set for the rest of my life.

But after about an hour and 45 minutes, he decided to switch things up and we danced with our dates to some slow songs. Ethan and I were in that awkward embrace that the Disney princesses do in their movie dances. You know where they have their arms around each other but it's super hard to visually explain? I looked over and Angel and Jake were slow dancing and Angel's head was against his chest. Ella and Nick looked really cute dancing together and Teagan and Michael looked adorable too. No complaints from me.

After the dance, Ethan walked me up to my doorstep and then gave me a hug. He looked like he really wanted to kiss me or something, but then ended up just kissing my cheek. Most likely a smart move.

I went up to my room to shower and go to bed since it was already pretty late, but I saw an envelope sitting on the counter addressed to me. It was different handwriting than the other envelope, and this one had my full address and name, not just the word Max.

When things in my life were finally settling down, something just always had to make it complicated again. It was like some never ending game with fate.

As I opened the envelope, I got even more confused because nothing was in it except for a puzzle piece. It was pretty small, and it clearly was not an edge piece because there were no straight sides to it. The whole piece was gold except for a tiny corner which was white.

I was confused yet intrigued at the same time, and ended up putting the envelope in a drawer and the puzzle piece on my desk next to my stuff to save. I didn't know if I'd be getting more puzzle pieces or notes or anything from this new mystery person, but I decided to keep everything for now.

With a huge confusion of thoughts, I hopped into the warm shower as I thought about this is new complicated part of my life.

**Hey guys! Sorry I'm not one whose big on the author's notes like some people are. But thanks so much for all the reviews! They really help me get writing and get motivated! So keep on reviewing! **** Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions or questions cause I'd be happy to hear them! Thanks, and happy reading! RnR!**


	12. Detentions

It'd been 9 days since the dance. You're probably like okay, is there like something special about 9 days or something? Actually, there is. So you know that puzzle piece I'd discovered when I'd gotten home from the dance? Yeah, well now I have nine. I'd basically gotten one every day since then. But even though there were now 9 pieces which actually connected to each other, I still had no idea what the heck anything meant. They were sitting on my desk creating a strip of gold with white in some of the corners. Was that like a hint or something? There was no freaking way I could guess what it was yet. Was I just gonna get puzzle pieces for like the rest of my life? That was actually a scary thought. What if I had some stalker? But then I smirked figuring I could take out any stalker that tried to get me. I'm actually a ton stronger than I looked. That's what exercise can do for a girl.

Just then the doorbell rang and I leapt off my bed, sprinting down the stairs to answer the door. You'll never guess who was coming to visit me. Okay, I'm sure a bunch of you said Fang but you're wrong too. Sucks to be you. But 1000 times better than Fang (not that I even wanted him to come) was Nudge! We were both off of school for the beginning of January and she'd gotten a flight out here by herself since she couldn't drive. She was gonna hang here for a few days and meet my friends and sleep in the guest room and just chill out. It was gonna be great. And I was absolutely positive that she would get along so well with Teagan, Angel and especially Ella.

"Max!" a familiar caramel face called, her same smile lighting up her face as she basically tackled me trying to give me a hug.

"Hi Nudge," I said into her hair as she hugged me, apparently refusing to let go.

After what felt like a year (If you couldn't tell, I'm not much of a hugger. Probably something to do with my not friendly personality. ) she let go and then rapidly started talking about everything back home. "It's so boring without you!" she cried.

I just snickered, "Yeah I'm sure Mr. Turner is glad as hell I'm gone." Mr. Turned was our fat, old principal in Colorado that absolutely hated me. With a passion. And I'd been there for what like 5 months since we'd moved into the high school that year. Okay, it wasn't even my fault I'd been sent to the principal that many times. Please tell me how this is wrong.

_Flashback 1:_

"_Does anyone know what emotional bullying is?" our awfully boring health teacher asked, not even bothering to look up from his clipboard. "Katie," he called pointing to a girl 2 rows behind me. _

"_Making fun of someone, or bringing their self-esteem down and how they feel about themselves," she answered. _

"_Correct. Can I have an example?" I decided to raise my hand; a rare occasion in this class. "Max, I haven't heard from you in a while."_

"_An example would be telling a fat person they look like a cow," I answered keeping a straight face. _

"_That's a little harsh, Max. And quite unrealistic and very rude." He replied glaring from behind his glasses. _

"_It's not unrealistic if you actually look like one. I mean have you seen Mrs. Walden? She looks like a whale," I responded still not cracking a smile. Not that I was joking, I mean she could seriously win a prize for fattest person I've met. _

"_Principal's office, now Ride!" he barked and I just rolled my eyes, smirking as I picked up my books and made my way out of the classroom. It was only the third day of school and I was on a first name basis with the principal, along with a week's worth of lunch detention. _

_Flashback 2:_

"_Max! Why are you so late? Class started nearly 10 minutes ago."_

"_I got hungry and the cafeteria sells good cookies. Sue me," I replied as I made my way to my desk towards the back of the room._

_I'd barely made it 10 feet before my teacher answered, "Ms. Ride, go to Mr. Turner's office now!"_

_In my defense I had math right before my lunch period so it was always open and I was always starving. And those cookies were damn good. That was only good for one Saturday detention though. _

_Flashback 3:_

"_Now class, don't smoke, don't drink, don't have sex. You can't do anything like that because you'll just ruin your life. Don't do any kind of drugs because they are incredibly dangerous to your health and safety, not to mention many are illegal. You need get good grades and spend all your time studying to make sure you get into a good college. Remember that what you do now determines your life in the future. You can't throw your lives away by drugs, drinking, or smoking," our same old boring health teacher lectured. _

"_Are you allowed to have any fun?" I asked snidely, "Or does that ruin your life too?"_

"_Max, don't push it," he replied glaring at me darkly over his glasses. _

"_Well I just think you sound like a blast to have at parties," I answered sarcastically. He glared hard before sending me back to my favorite person in the world, Mr. Turner. Not. We had a mutual hatred for each other and I saw him more often than either of us would have liked. It was too bad I was so funny. _

Now that folks is what not to do if you don't want to have detention all the time. Teachers aren't especially fond of students who are smarter than them. Well smarter, as in smart aleck, which was me. I mean I was just being honest, in all of my situations. That should be perfectly acceptable.

XX

Nudge was leaving today, and Angel and Teagan and Ella were all over to say bye. They'd met the first day she'd gotten here and we'd all went to see Mama in theatres. It was actually a decent movie for once. I'd been so used to being dragged to girly movies that it was nice to change it up.

"Aw but you just got here!" Ella whined. As I'd predicted, Nudge and Ella had immediately hit it off and were already friends. They were basically twins.

"I know! I'm gonna miss you guys! And tell the guys I'll miss them too! You guys definitely have to come out to Grand Junction and hang there this summer. We should all meet up again though! It was so fun!" Nudge exclaimed, suitcase by her side. My dad had arranged for a taxi to pick her up at the airport.

I looked out the window and noticed the yellow car pull up in our drive way and a driver got out to get Nudge's bags.

"I'm gonna miss you Max! You better text me! And we can have another Skype sesh soon, kay?" she asked, big brown eyes wide. I nodded, and she threw her arms around me again and gave me a huge hug. I'm still not particularly fond of hugs.

She hugged my other 3 friends and then grabbed her stuff, running outside so she didn't miss her flight. We all waved from the window as she got in the car.

XX

Just a quick update on my puzzle, since I know all you guys are interested. I'd still been getting one every day so I had around 15 puzzle pieces. They all fit together, to form one bigger puzzle piece. The pieces were still mostly gold, but now a bunch of solid white pieces had come too. Whoever was sending these pieces definitely did not want to make it too easy for me.

I was lying in bed on our last night of break before school started again, tons of thoughts racing through my head. Who were the puzzle pieces from? Why was I getting them? What was I supposed to do with them? Would I ever know?

I rolled over frustrated that I still didn't have any answers to my questions. This was all just one puzzle piece in the the whole jigsaw of my life.

**Hey again guys! Thanks for all the reviews! Please keep them coming! They help me update faster and motivate me a ton! Hope the story's okay so far and I'll try to update whenever I can. Read n Review! Thanks guys**** How about if I get 35 reviews, I'll write 3 or 4 chapters this weekend!**


	13. Keys

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while but here you go! Please review and let me know what you think of the story! Thanks!**

It'd been over a year. Well over a year since we'd moved here I mean. To be precise, it was actually one day before the dance last year. Thankfully, there wasn't a dance tomorrow this year too. But remember those puzzle pieces I'd been getting in the mail? Well I'd gotten one every single day since that dance. I know had 364 puzzle pieces siting on the floor of my closet. Each day I added it to the puzzle and now I finally had every piece except for one. The puzzle had turned into something I never would have guessed in a million years. It was a freaking key. Like who sends me 364 puzzle pieces and they fit together to make a key? I was pretty sure that I'd be getting the last piece tomorrow if it was like a piece a day, and there was one piece left…it made sense right? I sighed as I examined the puzzle and some of the envelopes looking for any clues to who it was from. It been almost a year and I still didn't know who it was. I would probably die if I never found out who this was. Like what's the point of all of it? Who the freaking heck is it from?

I groaned frustrated with everyone as I bounded down the steps to dinner. It was the beginning of February and the ground had about 2-3 feet of snow. It was prime time for skiing, and the snow was insanely perfect especially on the higher runs, and most of the bowls.

Ugh, it was Valentine's Day soon. In my personal opinion, Valentine's Day is totally overrated and a stupid, pointless holiday. It's a waste of money on food and flowers and makes anyone not in a relationship want one and it's just way overrated. Just saying. But you know I'm right.

"Are you doing anything for Valentine's Day Max" my mom asked once we'd all sat down at the dinner table.

"Really?" I asked scowling. Leave it to me to be in a bad mood.

"What? It was a real question," she replied with a chuckle.

"Do you know me? Since when do I like hearts and flowers and being swept off my feet?" I rolled my eyes as she and my father exchanged glances with a smile.

XX

As I'd expected, yet another envelope was waiting in the mail box for me. Except this one was weird. It was in a manila envelope, one of those big ones and this one was heavier than all the others. What was in here? I hurried up to my room and poured the contents of the envelope out on the floor in my room. Thankfully my parents worked so neither of them would awkwardly walk in on me trying to figure out what the heck this was. I saw the last puzzle piece, and just as I'd thought, it fit perfectly completing the puzzle. Now I had a golden key surrounding by white in the background. The last piece that I'd just put in had a heart on it though, and it took up most of the puzzle piece. Now I was even more confused. What did a heart have to do with a key?

Almost in answer to my question, out came a letter folded up.

Max,

I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to you, from when we were little to all the stuff I did with my friends and the bet. I know you won't believe me, but I needed to say some things. Okay, well the first thing is that I love you. I've loved you since we were friends as little kids, and I never stopped. I didn't realize that until you moved though. I kind of liked you but I always thought I was too cool or something. I was the biggest idiot ever. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm really sorry, and I hope that maybe one day you'll be able to forgive me. I'm not really sure about anything anymore, but I know that every day I've stayed since you've moved it's been harder and harder.

I know you don't trust me, and you probably don't want anything to do with me, but I trust you. You've always believed in me even when I was a total dick and douche to you. I'm sorry. No matter how many times I say I'm sorry it doesn't even come close to making anything up to you. But since I trust you with my life, I've given you this key. It's the key to my heart. You won my heart since the day we met, but I was too stupid to realize it until you left. That's even stupider since now we can't see each other. Not that you even want to see me. You're an amazing person, and you're the only person I could trust, despite everything. Don't worry, I'm not expecting you to like come running back to me but I just needed to say all this to you and I'm sorry I couldn't do it in person. So here's the key to my heart. You're the only one who can open it. But you're also the only one who can fix my heart since it's broken.

Max…I'm sorry. I know I said this last time too, but this is different. Even if you don't believe me, just keep this. Well I love you and I'm sorry. Please forgive me one day. Then I think I'll be able to forgive myself. I'll always love you Max. Even after I don't try.

-Fang

PS Watch the video

By the time I got to the end, tears had formed in my eyes, and I could taste the salty water in my mouth as the rivulets ran down my face. This was the first time I'd cried since that day when I found out about him having made everything up. I was even tougher this time now, and it took a lot to make me cry. I mean I'd broken bones and only grimaced. I'm one tough cookie. But this got to me because I knew I sort of felt that way too. But I didn't know what I wanted anymore and I didn't know what to do. I couldn't just believe him again. That was out of the question. But I still loved him, after everything he'd done to me.

I pushed his DVD into my laptop and grabbed a pair of headphones, and plugged them into my computer.

_Since you been gone  
I feel my life slipping away  
I look to the sky  
And everything is turnin' gray  
All I made was one mistake  
How much more will I have to pay  
Why can't you think it over  
Why can't you forget about the past_

When love makes this sound babe  
A heart needs a second chance  
Don't put me down babe  
Can't you see I love you  
Since you been gone I've been in a trance  
This heart needs a second chance  
Don't say it's over I just can't say goodbye  
So this is love  
Standing in the pouring rain  
I fooled on you  
But she never meant a thing  
And I know I ain't got no right  
To ask you to sympathize  
But why can't you think it over  
Why can't you forget the past

I never loved her  
I never needed her  
She was willing and that's all there is to say  
Don't forsake me  
Please don't leave me now  
A heart needs a second chance  
You've been gone, and I've been in a trance  
This heart needs a second chance  
Don't say it's over I just can't say goodbye  
Please forgive me and forget it  
Why can't we talk it over  
Why can't you forget about, forget the past  
(A heart needs a second chance...) When love  
makes it sound bad  
(My heart needs a second chance...)  
Don't put me down, babe  
You've been gone, and I've been in a trance  
This heart needs a second chance  
Don't say it's over I just can't say goodbye  
(A heart needs a second chance...)  
When love makes it sound bad  
(My heart needs a second chance...)  
Don't put me down, babe...

"_I'm sorry Max. Please forgive me. At least believe me," and then the screen went black. _

I stared at the blank screen and didn't know what to do. Like what the hell was I supposed to think after that?


	14. Hugs

Wow. That was the first thing that came to my head after I'd reread Fang's note for like the fifth time. I was sitting on my bed, clutching his note in one hand and the other hand was placed firmly holding the laptop on my lap.

I had two things. First, and less important, how did Fang become such a good singer? I mean his voice was freaking perfect, and even when we were best friends I swear he never sang like that. He never sang at all really. Whatever. Maybe he hit puberty, who knows. But I seriously didn't know what to think. I mean let me just summarize my history with Fang for you. We were best friends as kids, closer than brother and sister. No one understood how close we were. Then suddenly, imagine your best friend telling you that you were a nobody and from that day forward ignored you, except to bother you. My heart was crushed. I decided to not let it affect me, and change me even though it obviously did. How could something like that not change me? After a few years of me being strong and tough and over everything, he hits on me again. But guess what? It's for a bet. A bet that he can't get me to fall for him and go out with him after everything he's done. Well I did, cause let's admit it. He's pretty convincing. And then he decides that once isn't enough, and broke my heart again. Thankfully, I moved out of that town full of memories that I didn't want to relive. Once I was gone, everything seemed better. Then Nudge told me about how Fang had been all weird and different since I'd been gone. I passed it off as a coincidence and ignored that thought, even though it had always been in the back of my head. Then I got some wierdass puzzle pieces which finally led up to this note and CD. If you were me, how would you feel? And the whole problem is that I've been in love with him the whole time, but I'm sure as hell not getting my heart broken again.

But this was different. He spent hours building puzzle pieces that designed into an overall puzzle of a key. He wrote and sang me a song, and wrote that letter asking me to forgive him. But the one thing that stood out of his whole note was how he didn't expect me to forgive him. That took a lot of gut for Fang to say, let me tell you. But now what?

Some of me believes him. Part of me doesn't want to, but a bigger part of me does. But why?

I rolled over in bed, turning to the alarm clock next to me that was blinking 10:25. I groaned, knowing I'd better get up and get dressed before I got dragged out of bed. Once I'd made my way downstairs, I scowled realizing something awful. Okay, not really that bad, but it was definitely not something I was a fan of.

It was Valentine's Day.

This day didn't exactly have a good history with me, especially after all the crap I've been through with Fang. I sat down at the kitchen table and poured myself a glass of juice and just looked out the window thinking. Yeah, I'm deep like that. I rolled my eyes as I realized that I could've lain in bed all day since both my parents were gone for work conventions despite the fact that it was a holiday. I pushed the hair that kept falling in front of my face behind my ear as I got up to go watch TV. I have a rough life. Watching TV and eating food all day. As hard as it is, someone has to live it.

Just as my favorite show came on, the doorbell rang and I got up, confused at who was here on a Sunday. I realized I didn't exactly look very presentable being in running shorts, a sports bra and cut out T-shirt. My hair was a mess and I hadn't bothered to wash my face or do anything at all since I'd woken up. I pulled the door back, and you'll never guess who was standing there.

Fang.

WTF? As if my life wasn't confusing enough already, with all these confused emotions and hormones, a girl can go crazy.

"Um hi," he said awkwardly, standing on my front porch. First of all, how did he know where I lived?

"Hi…" I responded, realizing that the last time I'd talked to him was when I told him we were leaving. And that hadn't exactly been a two-sided conversation.

"Can I come in?" he asked, and I wasn't exactly sure what was happening, but moved out of the doorway as he stepped inside, his hand brushing mine. Just that little touch sent shivers through me and I shifted my weight uncomfortably.

"Um what's up?" I asked since he hadn't began to explain himself and we were both just standing in my entryway silently.

"A lot of things," he muttered not helping my confusion.

"That's really not helping," I muttered back in the same tone. He smiled at that, and I realized it was his old smile. The one he'd had when we were little kids. He hadn't smiled like that in years. That I was positive of.

"Look, I've got a lot of explaining to do…" he began and I nodded.

"That would help," I replied and he just shook his head. We'd walked up to my room and we were both sitting on the edge of my bed. This scene, this everything…just felt so familiar. This was exactly how I spent the first 12 years of my life. With Fang. And now he was back.

"You got my stuff right?" he asked, referring to the puzzle and letter and song and all that and I just nodded. "Don't be freaked out, I got your address from the school. I made up some bullshit about how I needed to talk to someone out of our state for world history and they believed me." He let out a tense chuckle. "I'm sorry. I honestly am so sorry Max, and I really do love you." He looked me straight in the eye as he said that. I'd noticed before how he'd always look somewhere else, or his eyes would do something funky when he was talking to me. But this was him being sincere.

"I don't know Fang," was all I could bring myself to say. Hurt flashed through his eyes quickly, but I knew him so well that I could tell it was there.

"I know. And that's why I came here. So that you will know that I'm being honest. You don't understand. Ever since you left, something inside me snapped. I can't stop thinking about you, and what I did. Everything I did. And how awful of a person I am for making you go through all of that. I miss you Max. Not the fake thing I did last year, but the good old days where we were best friends. Once I started thinking about things, really thinking, I realized those were the best days of my life. Because I was happy, and you were happy. I want you to be happy. Once we weren't friends anymore, I wasn't the same person. Not as happy when I wasn't with you. But until now, I was too stupid to realize that. I didn't realize it until too late. Now I can't have you because you don't want me. But I don't blame you, I wouldn't want me either. But I need you to at least understand and believe me that I'm truly sorry, and that I know you aren't forgiving me now. But please, at least consider it for the future. That way at the very least we can be friends. That's all I want. Is for you to know that I'm sorry and I love you. Maximum Ride, I do love you." He stopped talking, and he kept his eyes trained directly on mine. Oh my gosh. He was serious. Right? This was definitely a different Fang, that I knew for sure. He was a lot like the old Fang. The Fang I loved. Not what he had become in the last few years. The real Fang.

It took a while for me to answer. I just needed to process everything. "Okay. I do believe you, but that doesn't mean everything goes back to the way it was. You have to convince me. And if I'm not convinced, you're out of here."

His face flooded with color and he looked more relieved than I'd ever seen him. And this ladies and gentlemen is when Fang, yes Fang Walker, hugged me. He just leaned over and wrapped his arms around me, his face at ease. Now folks, this is the first time in HISTORY, that Fang has ever actually hugged someone on his one. I had to hug him or someone else had to hug him. Even then he wouldn't hug anyone. He just stood there unmoving, like a tree. Well since I had indeed made history, I decided to hug him back. Just a little.


	15. Bacon Enough Said

I was laying in my bed upstairs, and despite the late hour of the night, I was unable to sleep. I rolled over for the hundredth time it felt like but didn't even bother to try and close my eyes to sleep. I knew it wasn't gonna happen. And it was all because of a certain someone who happened to be sleeping down the hall.

Fang.

In case you missed last chapter, he drove all the way to my new house and was standing on the doorstep. We talked and I'm not exactly sure where we are now, like on relationship terms. The problem is I don't really know where I want to be. I was making him convince me that he was real and wasn't bullshitting like he did last time. If anyone was going to get hurt it wasn't going to be me. That vow wasn't going to be broken again.

I groaned, looking at the clock blinking 3:07. In the morning. At least we had no school today since there was some weird science convention at school and it was some annual festival where school was always cancelled. Whatever. I couldn't sleep not knowing what was happening with anything right now, so I got up and padded down the hallway to where Fang was sleeping.

Well not really, since he was laying in the bed, his eyes wide open and he was unable to sleep.

"Can't sleep either?" I asked walking in, and slowly closing the door.

He shook his head as I came in and sat on the end of his bed. Thankfully Fang had been smarter than the average bear and had called my parents and spoke with them both about coming out here to make sure that they were okay with it. I thought that was a nice gesture, especially asking my dad's permission to come here to talk with me and see me and my mom made him stay for a few days. Despite how Fang and I hadn't been friends for a while, our moms were still as close as they had been before. They were honestly like sisters and our dads were pretty good friends too.

"I really haven't been able to sleep since you've left. I kinda just roll around in bed for a while thinking about how I screwed up my life. And just how stupid I was, well am, and how that if I could ever go back and reverse everything I would go back to the day where I told you we couldn't we couldn't be friends. That way I could've gone through most of my teenage years with you. I mean gosh, it's already 2/3 of the way through our sophomore year of highschool," he ended kind of abruptly and left me thinking about how I was going to college in a few years. A big ten college I might add.

"I get it," I replied quietly. I was thinking. "I just don't know."

"About what?" he asked, talking much more than usual still.

"Everything. Mostly you," I admitted looking at the ground.

"I'm sorry I put you through all this Max," he told me directly.

"Yeah, I don't know it's okay. Look I forgive you, okay? It's just that I never ever forget. You should know that by now Fang. I just need to get past everything, but I lived through it all and it won't be that easy. You know I don't trust easy to begin with, and I don't know. How can I trust you again?" I asked honestly. It was a little rough, but it was the truth. No one could just expect someone to trust again that quick. Especially me who can barely trust to begin with.

"Trust me," he said without thinking and I just looked at him. He realized what he said and gave me his good old lopsided smile, and the few gold specks danced in his obsidian eyes even in the darkness. I couldn't help but laugh. "Well okay I mean try to trust me when you can, but until then I'm going to do everything I can to convince you that I'm for real. I promise Max."

I just sighed, why did my life have to be so freaking difficult? "Okay, I'm just warning you. Although I'm forgiving you don't assume I'm forgetting everything too. But I can get over it, I just need to have a reason to."

He nodded looking sad, a little hurt and also kind of relieved. But this guy was kind of a pro at hiding his emotions and blocking people out when he wanted to so it wasn't exactly easy to tell what he's thinking.

"Well good night, I'm gonna try and get some sleep since it's almost 4," I said with a yawn as I got up to leave. He leaned forward for a second and it looked like he was gonna hug me or say something but I just walked out. I'm not exactly a feelings person if you haven't noticed already.

-LINE BREAK-

I woke up to the smell of bacon and practically through off my covers to get downstairs to eat whatever it was that smelled so good. And when I say smelled good, it smelled freaking amazing! I practically flew down stairs to find none other than Fang cooking breakfast for me. He was still wearing his pajamas, meaning no shirt, and his back was to me as I flipped a variety of things over at the stove where he was busily at work. I glanced at the clock and it was 9:30 so at least I got a few hours of sleep.

I rubbed my eyes, "Whatcha doing?"

"Making your favorite," Fang replied without turning around to make sure he didn't burn anything which smelled delicious and seemed to be almost ready. I couldn't believe he'd remembered my favorite breakfast and had managed to get all this food and make it for me before I'd even gotten up. Now that seemed like some dedication.

Now I may be a sucker for food, especially BACON, but that doesn't mean I forgot. No way. I got a memory of steel.

Once Fang had finished cooking he brought over a pitcher of grape juice, a plate full of bacon, a few pancakes and hash browns. Healthy right? I was one of those girls that all other girls hated since I ate whatever I wanted and always stayed thin, but I also worked out a lot though so it evened out.

I sat down at the table, practically inhaling any food that was placed in front of me. When had Fang learned how to cook like this? I mean seriously, this food was so good. And since when could he sing so well? Apparently I didn't know Fang as well as I thought.

Fang's eyes were glued to me as he watched me wolf down the breakfast he had prepared for me. I looked up to see his dark eyes swirling as he leaned back in his chair, becoming at ease here. Then I noticed that he hadn't been wearing a shirt still, and as he stretched back in his chair it nicely emphasized his toned chest, abs and arm muscles. No wonder Fang had so many girls after him with abs like that. And if he could cook and sing. That was impressive.

I must've been a lot more obvious about taking in his nicely shirtless top than I thought and Fang smirked at me and then wiggled his eyebrows. "Like what you see, Max?" he teased and I scowled, rolling my eyes.

"Well now what?" I asked once I'd finished my delicious.

"Well, I was thinking about taking you sledding, since there's plenty of snow here and we don't have enough time to ski," Fang inclined starting to stand up and clean up the mess.

"Thanks for breakfast Fang," I added quietly, still thrilled he'd remembered all of my favorite things plus that I loved sledding.

"I told you I was going to convince you. I'll do whatever it takes," he responded dead serious. The way he looked at me sent tingles through me from head to toe. Wait, I probably shouldn't have said that. Whatever.

Well I was playing in hard in the trust game. I guess he was just gonna have to play harder.

**Happy Easter guys! Here's another chapter and let me know what you think, if it's going to fast or anything you want me to add or get rid of! Hope the story's not too bad, so read and review! Thanks!**


	16. Sledding

"I WIN!" I called as both of our sleds flew down the snowy slopes and skidded to a halt at the bottom. I flashed back to when Fang and I went sledding together on the small hills. We spent all of our snow days together building forts and sledding and having snow ball fights. But that was years ago.

"No way!" he yelled with a mischievous glint in his liquid black eyes.

"Just admit it Fang, I totally kicked your ass!" I called with a grin, feeling happier than I had in a while. It felt right being friends with him again. But what would happen when school started again? I mean yeah we had this week off for some historical crap that I don't know about, but it's not like it was summer. He lived like 5 hours away.

"Rematch." He said and we grabbed our sleds and tried to run up the icy sides of the hill. Despite the perfect weather, the hill was pretty much empty except for one family who was on the opposite side from us. We were almost to the top of the hill, and I was ready to kick some more Fang butt when he stepped on a patch of ice and slipped, crashing into me and we both slid on our butts halfway down the hill.

He laughed and he seemed a lot more relaxed then I had seen him since we were little. He had snow his black hair and he shook his head and I couldn't help but laugh.

He stood up and then reached his hand down to help me get up. Unfortunately our combined weight and the ice on the hill wasn't a good combination because we went down again, this time I was practically on his lap. I didn't know if I should get off or just chill out. I think too much.

We both stood up and this time we managed to make it to the top of the sled hill without an incident.

"Alright ready?" I called over. We both assumed racing positions, holding the sleds tight to our chests, preparing to jump and sled down.

"Set!" He called back.

"GO!" we yelled in unison. I pushed off from the hard ground and made impact with the hill a second later. I leaned to the right so I could steer trying to avoid a grassy patch. I accidently turned too hard and ended up crashing into Fang who was going the same speed as me.

I'm not sure what exactly happened but we both flew off our sleds and were somewhat tangled up together and rolled down the hill sledless. I winced as we hit a rock, but continued to fly down the hill. We were laughing hard by the time we got to the bottom of the hill.

"I really missed you Max," he said softly once we had calmed down. His eyes were looking right into mine and I felt like he could see right through me. Not like I was dead obviously, but I felt like he could read and sense all of my emotions. He just knew me too well.

And then I realized how much I'd missed him, and all of the crazy things we did together. It was just like old times. But I wasn't going to be slapped in the face by reality. We all knew this couldn't last. Or could it? Was he really different? I wasn't about to get showed up again…

"I missed you too I guess," I began. But my stupid conscious wouldn't shut up, "I miss the old you Fang, the one that's here right now. Not what I used know for the past few years…" I trailed off. I had major trust issues as I'm sure you can tell by now.

"It really is me Max, I swear it," he told me, eyes wide appearing innocent. Too bad I still didn't trust him again. Remember, I forgive but I never, ever forget.

"I wish I could believe you that easy. I really do Fang," I muttered quietly.

"You can trust me Max, I promise," he told me quietly.

"How?" I asked him, my voice cracking.

"From this," he told me his eyes fierce and determined.

With that he dropped the sled he was holding and kissed me. He freaking kissed me. He pressed his lips against mine hard and wrapped his hands around my back. His lips were so soft and perfect against mine. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't process what was happening. At first I leaned into him, kissing him back as though to make up for all the years we spent as enemies.

Then I opened my eyes and realized what I was doing.

I'm kissing Fang. No. No. I can't do it. Not yet. No. No.

I started freaking out, and pulled back right away. His eyes flashed hurt as I jerked back out of his hold. He was speechless.

But it didn't matter cause I wasn't sticking around to talk. "I'm sorry," I whispered, my eyes starting to get hot and wet. No. I couldn't cry. No. I tried to hold it in. I turned my back, dropped my sled and took off sprinting. I didn't know where I was going.

What the hell was I doing? The question kept circling in my head and I had no answer. I wanted to, don't get me wrong I wanted to forget and just trust Fang with everything I had but that was out of the question. This wasn't happening again. Not now. Not in my new life.

I ran until I reached the trees surrounding the hill we were at. Tears filled my eyes, blurring my vision. I kept running at full speed until I was safely hidden, surrounded by trees. I sat down, my back against a tree and tears poured down my face.

Why couldn't I be a normal girl? With normal boy problems? Not this madness with him. I wanted to be able to trust him. I wanted to be able to love him again. I just couldn't let myself do it.

I didn't know what I did to him either. Was he angry or sad or frustrated? How was I to know. All I know was that he didn't even call out after me as I ran. Well I don't think he did, I couldn't really process everything.

But knowing me, once everything starts to turn around I run. I always run from all my problems.

**FPOV**

We were finally kissing. For real. I could smell her shampoo, as her lips were pressed to mine. Her lips were perfect and her eyes were closed. This is what I'd been waiting for. It was perfect.

All I wanted was for her to trust me. I wanted her to love me and I wanted to go back to how perfect it was when we were little. Well until I messed everything up. I was determined to fix it. And this was how it was going to be fixed.

It was going amazing but then her eyes fluttered open, and she jerked back from me.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. I opened my mouth to talk to her and get her to tell me what she wanted. But before I could blink she had taken off. She dropped everything she was holding, turned and ran as fast as she could. I couldn't tell if she was crying but she didn't stop running until she reached the trees ¼ mile away.

God, why was I so stupid! What did I do wrong this time? I was never going to get it right. I mailed her a puzzle. I gave her the key to my heart. I wrote her a letter explaining everything. I wrote a song for her and sent it to her. I don't sing for anyone. Ever. Didn't she get that? I drove all the way to her freaking house. All I wanted was her. Max. She was everything to me. God I was so stupid. Why did I ever become friends with Lissa and all of those awful people? All it did was ruin my life. I hated myself for it.

I didn't know what to do. I sat there in stunned silence, dumbstruck. I got up, put the sleds on top of each other with the rest of our stuff. Once everything was together, I got up.

And I followed her. I went to go find out why she ran away. I needed to talk to her. I needed her.

**Sorry it's taken so long for the update! It's finally summer so I can update much more often! Please review and let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas! Please please review! Thanks! :) Happy reading!**


	17. Home

**Thanks for all the reviews! Keep 'em coming! Sorry the updating takes so long but I'm always busy but here's a new chapter for you guys. Thanks for reading and please, please, please review! I just need to make sure everything is okay and that it's not too rushed or bad or anything! Thanks y'all! **

**MPOV**

I balled my hands into fists as I leaned against the sharp bark of the pine tree, the events of the past minutes spinning through my head. In case you forgot, I decided to run away just after Fang kissed me and I had kissed him back. And now I had ruined everything, as usual. To make matters worse I had no idea what the heck I was supposed to do about Fang. He lived about 5 hours away and was staying at my house. I kinda had to see him when I got home. Like, awkward much?

I heard footsteps crunching through the packed snow as I buried my head in my hands. I could tell the footsteps had stopped and were standing right next to me, but I couldn't bring myself to look up. I just closed my eyes, and tried to drown out the world, as if that would make everything better.

I felt his jacket brush mine as he knelt down, to be level with me in the snow. I knew it was Fang even though I hadn't opened my eyes. I wasn't exactly planning to either.

"Max," he whispered, saying my name as though his life depended on it. It sounded beautiful the way he said it. He took a piece of my hair between his fingers and twirled it. "Max, please talk to me." He sighed as I didn't move, and he moved to sit down right next to me. And that was when I realized he came after me. "I need you Max, you don't understand. I've tried most everything I can think of to get you back, but I won't ever stop trying. That kiss meant the world to me, even though it was barely a second."

I felt my eyes start to get hot again, and I gave in and looked up. His eyes were trained directly on mine and I got lost in the deepness and sincerity of his gaze. "Listen Max, I will always love you, even after I don't try." A single tear rolled down my cheek as I looked at him. There was no way that he wasn't telling the truth. I realized for the first time how much I loved him too even after all the stuff we'd been through. It was an awfully rocky relationship but I still needed him. I couldn't say anything without having a major voice crack so I just nodded. I let the second tear roll down my cheek but Fang reached over and wiped it off.

"I never want to see you cry again, okay? You're too beautiful to ever be sad again," he whispered, and my heart raced. "Come on; let me make you some hot chocolate." He stood up and then reached a hand down to help me up. I took it gratefully and stood up, just watching him. He stared into my eyes, and I could see bits of my reflection in the golden specks that danced around in the jet black sea of his eyes. He stepped over, putting and put his arms around me. He pulled me closer to him and I let my arms slide around his back too. I just felt so right. It felt so natural, just holding him. It had been too long. I inhaled the smell of his cologne and it was so breathtakingly recognizable I almost cringed. His arms wrapped around me and I thought they would never let go, I never wanted them to.

He pulled back after another minute or so, and looked right at me. "Promise me you won't run away this time?" he asked with the slight hint of a grin on his lips. I nodded and the edges of my mouth turned up in a relieved smile.

With that simple gesture, he leaned in and softly placed his lips on mine. I kissed him back softly, building in intensity. His hands slid around my waist pulling me closer as my hands got tangled in his black, snow covered hair. "I'll never leave you Max," he promised under his breath. I smiled on his lips and I could feel him smile back. It was finally happening, after years of being miserable, I was finally truly happy again.

I pulled back and surprised him with a grin, sliding my hand into his. "I'm so sorry," I whispered and he shook his head.

"Don't be sorry, it's my fault. But it's behind me now; I swear it." He tightened his grip on my hand, as if someone were going to steal me in the middle of this empty forest.

"Let's go get the sleds," I told him quietly as we decided to head back. The sky was quickly darkening and I didn't want to freak out my parents if we were both gone too long after dark. But I didn't want this night to end; it was finally ending up perfect. Everything was finally as it was meant to be.

He nodded again and hand in hand, made our way to the dark pile near a gathering of small trees. We were only a block away from home, but now I knew I was truly home. Home is wherever Fang and I are together.

**FPOV**

I smiled to myself at how everything had played out. After a year of regret, remorse and being too upset to think, I had finally solved all of my problems. Now that I was with Max, I felt like a new person. I felt like I could conquer anything that came my way.

We started to head home. And that was when I realized home is wherever Max and I were together.

**Sorry this chapter is so short, but I wanted it to be short and sweet. Hope it was okay! Read n review! Thanks!**


End file.
